A Laramie man charged with three counts of first degree sexual assault and one count of kidnapping and confinement plead not guilty to the charges in Albany County District Court Thursday.

First degree sexual assault is punishable by up to 50 years in prison and the kidnapping and confinement charge carries a penalty of 20 years to life in prison, meaning the 29-year old man could face up to life in prison plus 150 years if convicted on all counts.

According to the affidavit, on Feb. 22, a Laramie Police officer was dispatched to a residence on the 4300 block of East Comanche Drive in Laramie for a report of a possible sexual assault. The officer learned en route that the victim was speaking to another officer who was on scene and that the suspect had just left the area in a blue Cadillac.

The officer observed a blue Cadillac heading southbound on Indian Hills with no license plates. The officer performed a traffic stop and identified the driver. The officer then responded to where the victim was speaking to the other LPD officer. The officer asked the victim what happened and she responded that she was sexually assaulted and gave the officers the man’s name, court documents state.

In an follow-up interview on March 1, the victim told officers the victim said she operates a photography business and was hired by the man to do a ‘boudoir type’ photo shoot at his residence, which he had rented through Airbnb. The victim said she had gone to the residence to do the photo shoot and brought her aunt for safety reasons, so she was not alone with the defendant, court documents say.

The victim said she left the residence with her aunt when the photoshoot was finished, but received a message on Facebook from the defendant with a picture of her keys, that she forgotten at the residence. The victim said she then remembered leaving her keys on a tall brown table in the living room.

The victim told officers she returned to the residence alone to find the defendant still nude. He told her keys where in the back bedroom. She went to the bedroom to retrieve the keys and said that the defendant followed her, and blocked the doorway. The victim told the defendant that she needed to leave and tried to get past him, but he grabbed her and forcefully kissed her. The victim said she told the defendant that she didn’t want to do anything and needed to leave. She said the defendant restrained her, forcibly removed her clothes and pushed her onto the bed, court documents state.

According to court documents, the victim told officers that she didn’t fight back because she didn’t want to get hurt, because the defendant was much bigger than her. She said that she expressed non-consent and the desire to leave a minimum of ten times during the encounter and that he continued to assault her. The victim said at one point she managed to break free and she put her clothes on and leave the residence. She said upon leaving the residence, she saw a police officer in his patrol vehicle and approached him, told him she was assaulted and asked him what to do.

In an interview with one of the officers, the man stated he hired the victim to take photos of him. The defendant stated that he did have sexual intercourse with the victim, but he claimed that it was consensual.

The defendant is being held at the Albany County Detention Center on a $500,000 cash bond, his trial is set for Oct 2, 2018 according to the Albany County Clerk of District Court's office.

Note: The names of defendants in sex crime cases are not used until a conviction, or guilty or no contest pleas unless the defendant is a person of public interest or trust. The defendant’s name has not been run in this case.